Memories
by Anime Alert
Summary: Most think that there are just two Italies; North Italy and South Italy. However... those guys are wrong. After all, who would represent the Aeolian Islands?
1. Chapter 1

"Mommy?" Lovi asked quietly. I smiled softly and turned from the bedside of one of his two siblings and only sister, Shiori, where I had just finished tucking her in and kissing her forehead.

"Yes, my son?" I asked. My voice was quiet and musical, as it always was when I was tucking in my precious children at night. I was a pretty woman, with a soft, sweet smile and an innocent face. My sea-blue eyes were a mirror to all my kindness, love, and other assorted caring emotions. But only the caring emotions and nothing else.

"Can you sing us a song? Please?" He asked softly. I smiled.

"Sure. Anything particular in mind?"

"That one song. Marukaite whatsit…"

I mentally grinned like a devil. I, of course, knew what the song _really_ was, but they didn't. If they did, they would start to hate me for turning them onto that path. But it was the only way to ensure that they had a proper grasp of such songs. "Sure, Lovi. I'll sing that." I took a deep breath and began the song it took me years to perfect.

After singing the song, they had both fallen asleep peacefully. I sighed, knowing that a fight was inevitable. But… why did they have to be caught up in it?

Oh, I'm so sorry. You must be wondering who Shiori is and why she's in here. Shiori represents the Aeolian Islands off the coast of South Italy.


	2. Chapter 2

Shiori woke to the sound of fighting. She looked next to her; nope, Lovi was still asleep. The only others who could be fighting were… _Mommy and Spain…? But… why…?_ She thought, listening.

"You IDIOT! I HATE you! I HATE you SO FUCKING MUCH!" Ireland yelled at Spain. Shiori could picture it as clearly as if she were there; Ireland's eyes would be a turbulent ocean of rage, with bitterness snapping over them like lightning. She'd be in an offhand fighting stance; knees slightly bent, arms slightly cocked, her fists full and ready at their ends. Her hair would be bristling slightly, and when she wasn't yelling, her teeth would be tightly clenched to keep a growing yell in her throat until Spain said something.

Spain, though, she couldn't picture. He was always so carefree and happy… how _would_ he look if he was mad? "Mio clovere… please, calm down…" She heard him say softly. She imagined him taking a soft step forward and placing his hand on her cheek.

THAT was confirmed by the slapping noises she heard. The first was softer that its counterpart; she'd slapped off his hand, then slapped his face. "NO! I WILL NOT CALM DOWN YOU JACKASS! You know what? Screw you." She hissed the last part. Shiori got a bad feeling about what would happen next. "And you know what else? Good-bye. I'm leaving. And Shiori's going to come with me. You can have your precious Lovino; but Shiori is MINE." She growled. Shiori faked sleep as she heard her mommy coming upstairs. "Shiori? You need to get up now." Ireland said softly as she entered the room. She walked over and lightly shook her daughter.

"Nnn… huh?" Shiori acted like she'd never been awakened. "Mom… my…?" She asked.

"Get your things. We need to leave." Ireland said softly.

"But… aren't you going to wake Lovi too, Mommy?" Shiori asked innocently as her mom took her hand after all had been packed.

Ireland softly shook her head. "No, Shiori. He has to stay here."

"Huh? Is Daddy staying too, then?" Shiori asked sadly.

"Yes. Daddy's gonna stay here with your Fratello. It's just us from now on." And with that, the two reached Ireland's favorite car… and Shiori was forced to leave her constant comfort.

Her brother.

However, along the ride, she made up a special song that she'd only ever sing when she really needed the comfort of her brother.

_As I look out at the sky,_

_I am asking myself, "Why?"_

_As I look out at the sea,_

_I feel that you're right near me._

_As I look out at the stars,_

_I know you're seeing the same stars._

_And whenever I need you…_

_I just sing this song…_

_For you…_

She decided that she'd try sleeping again. After all, she'd need to learn how to sleep without her brother's familiar warmth beside her.


	3. Chapter 3

Romano was NOT pleased when he woke up. Actually, he was BEYOND displeased and was well into the realm of "Explosively Pissed Off", which caused multiple problems for Spain. Luckily, he was able to find peace for a few minutes to arrange an emergency diplomatic meeting to improve relations with France. At least, that was the label he put on it, and because of Romano's utter terror of France, he got to escape the yelling for an hour or so. They even managed to be moderately serious and forged a tentative trade route. (AN: I'm not basing this off anything, by the way. None of this story has historical basing intended.) However, when he returned home, he was assaulted with a Romano of renewed strength.

"Bastardo! Tell me where the fuck Mom and Shi are!" Romano yelled, hitting Spain with all his childhood might.

Spain sighed. Romano had been like this all day, after waking up alone, without the comforting warmth of his sister next to him. He'd had a freak attack and had screamed so loud that it woke up the neighbors… who came over to give him a good telling-off. "Romano, please…" Spain sighed. "Are we going to discuss this again? I already told you; I don't know where they are." That was technically true; he hadn't told Romano about the fight, just that Ireland and Shiori had left last night and that he didn't know where they'd gone. "And either way, Roma, why is it so hard to accept your mother's disappearance? I understand the bit with Shiori, but… not Ireland."

"Why don't you look happy anymore when you talk about her? You look sad about Shi, but with Mom… you look angry, disappointed, sad… even bitter. What happened?" Romano asked suspiciously.

"Hm? Oh… I miss Shiori. And Ireland and I had some… problems." Spain said, beginning to feel slightly guilty all of a sudden. It was a cold, gnawing feeling, like a piece of ice with teeth was eating his insides. He felt a tiny bit stronger from the new trade agreement with France, and he could feel his economy getting a little better, but he also felt a strange coldness. It was like something was missing… some vital piece.

"Bastardo! Why did Mom take her?! Why, tomato bastard?!" Romano yelled at him, before storming off to his room.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi! So, major timeskip here. This is twenty years later… exactly.**

.

Romano woke up with an all too familiar cold feeling gripping him. _Shiori…_ he thought, _I can't even remember your face… if I saw you, I'm not even sure I'd recognize you…_ He forced himself out from under his covers, knowing that there was a meeting today. He slowly got dressed and walked downstairs, almost tripping at one point.

Spain knew well that Romano would be depressed that day and had argued to the best of his Spanish ability to have the date changed. He'd failed, of course, and, to a lesser extent, shared the misery of his little tomato. He, unlike Romano, was able to keep a façade of cheerfulness up. When he saw Romano, he knew that this year would be the worst yet. So, in an attempt to cheer him up, he drew out an old framed photograph and handed it to Romano.

In the photo, Romano and Shiori were sitting cross-legged in a lush field. Each had a crown of cherry blossoms on their head that Shiori had made.

Romano quickly snatched the picture and stared at it, not seeing the picture, but a flashback to a day that was only a single week before Shiori had been taken away from him by their mother.

_Shiori and Lovino were sitting in a field after running around playing tag for a while. Shiori had woven two sakura crowns, one for each of them._

_"Hey, Lovi?" Shiori had asked, panting slightly._

_"Yea, Shi? What is it?" He had responded, calling her by the special nickname that no one other than himself could get away with. Not even Ireland or Spain. In turn, he only allowed her to call him Lovi, although Spain also got that one in on occasion._

_"Wanna take a quick swim?" She'd asked._

_"U-uh! Wha…? Shi, we can't do that!" He'd exclaimed, though later he wished he'd accepted. After all, she'd seemed so disappointed, and they'd never gone swimming afterwards._

_"O-oh, okay…" She'd trailed off, seeming so very disappointed. "Well, how about climbing the sakura tree then?" She'd asked, sounding hopeful._

_Lovino, not wanting to reject a plan of hers again, had smiled. "Sure." He'd responded, moving to help her up. She'd accepted his offered hand, and they'd played monkeys for awhile before having to leave._

"-no! LOVINO!" Spain was shouting, beginning to shake him by the shoulders a little.

Lovi gasped slightly and accidentally dropped the photo. _No!_ He wanted to scream, then saw Spain catch it. "Whoa, Lovi! You okay?" Spain asked him, completely forgetting that Lovino would _not_ react well.

"Don't… don't call me that…" Lovino sighed. "Let's just go…"


	5. Chapter 5

Lovino was bored with the meeting. He and Spain had driven, and an interesting song set had played on the radio. It was the only two songs they'd been able to hear. The first was odd, but the second was just creepy. The first had been called _iNSaNity_, and the second one was _Dark Marukaite Chikyuu_. Both had been primarily in Japanese, but one had some English words, and the other a few Italian words.

What was creepier was the fact that last one had sounded like Japan was singing it.

'I will not break.' I thought that line to myself repeatedly, I had to. Then I realized that everyone was silent and staring at me. "What?" I made myself ask, trying to sound like my normal self. "What the fuck do all of you want?" I even added in a swear, because if I didn't, even America would realize that something was up.

"Er, Romano… do you need a break?" Germany asked. Okay, now I was just plain obvious, wasn't I?

"…sure…" I replied numbly, barely shifting my gaze up.

"Okay then. We are taking a fifteen minute break."

I forced myself up and outside. I remembered that there was a sakura tree nearby, so I went there.

When I got to the tree, I noticed that it would be easy to climb, so I did. The tree was in full bloom. _Insanity, like floating on air, Psychopathy, a carefree life._ Where did THAT come out of? Oh, yea, that one song, _iNSaNity_. I decided to make a sakura crown. _For you, Shi,_ I thought when I finished the crown.

It would fit on the head of a child of about four or five very nicely. A female child, because it wasn't your average circlet; no, it looked like a miniature queen's crown.

I smiled softly. I knew it would have fit Shi perfectly. At least, it would have that day… I sighed, depressed once more.

Then I saw her. She was standing there, right at the edge of the grounds of the UN building, looking at me.

"Sh… Shiori?"


End file.
